Falling Apart into Nothingness
by trumpet1
Summary: Hermione is perfect.  She has the perfect grades, thoughts, ideas, and an abusive boyfriend.  Beaten by her boyfriend for the slightest thing, she is a mess.  Is Charlie Weasley the answer?  *I don't own Harry Potter*
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One:

Hermione quietly began to gather her belongings. Instead of feeling uncontrollable joy for the fact she was heading for Hogwarts tomorrow, she was feeling down and sorrowful. Crookshanks purred at her, slinking around her books.

"Crookshanks, I don't know what to do," she sighed.

She reached out to pet him, but when her arm throbbed she pulled it back again. Hermione lifted up her sleeve and winced; the bruise had turned almost black. She had been hit-HARD. Yesterday's events of buying her books for Hogwarts played inside her mind:

_"'Hi, Hermione!' exclaimed a young man with bright red hair. Only one family had such stunningly noticable hair-the Weasleys. His arms were slightly scarred with strange looking indentations.  
'Charlie!' she declared in delight, 'Why did you come back?'  
Charlie Weasley grinned at her broadly, gripping her shoulders with his large hands. 'Mum wanted me to see the family before the summer ended. So I decided to come visit and wave everybody off to Hogwarts!'  
'So I will see you in a couple days before we leave?'  
'Yup! Can't get rid of me, can you?'  
Hermione laughed, and he hugged her like she was a sister.  
'Hermione!' exclaimed a voice.  
A rush of dread. She turned around slowly. 'Hi, Maverick.'  
'Who's your friend?' Maverick asked with a smile-but she could see the rage in his dark eyes.  
'Um, Charlie. Charlie Weasley. Charlie, this is my boyfriend, Maverick,' she looked uncomfortable.  
'Nice to meet you, Weasley. I expect you're related to Ron and Fred and George? I would like to speak to **my**_ _girlfriend.'  
Charlie looked worried. 'Hermione, maybe I should-'  
'See you around, Charlie,' she mumbled, following Maverick to a more secretive place. Charlie watched her leave anxiously.  
''Mione, I thought I told you seeing other boys was out of the question when I started to date you. Are you?' His eyes glinted dangerously.  
'No, Mav. Charlie is just an old friend-and plus, he's Ron's brother! He is much too old for me!' she squeaked in fear.  
He stepped close to her and her heart drummed in horror. 'Hermione, I have to make sure you aren't being disobedient to me. I have to punish you. You know how much I hate punishing you.'  
'Please, Maverick, I-Charlie is just an old friend! I would never!'  
''Mione, love, I have to make sure. It's the best for you.'  
She trembled, cringing back with fear. He lifted a large, thick metal crowbar and brought it down hard on her forearm of her left arm. Pain rushed through and pricked her arm, right between her elbow and her wrist. She yelped, and Maverick started to soothe her, kissing her neck and stroking her skin, sending shivers down her spine."_

A small dark brown owl flew through her window just then and Hermione jumped in terror. "You scared me!" she told the owl. The creature stared at her with its intelligent blue eyes and lifted a leg so she could take off the capsule.

A small note was given to her, from Charlie:  
Hi, Hermione!  
We didn't get much chance to talk yesterday since you went off with your boyfriend. I forgot to mention that I'll see you at Hogwarts-I'm teaching a year with Hagrid and we'll be doing a project about dragons. Did you take the Magical Creatures class this year?  
Love,  
Charlie

Hermione eyes widened and she stuffed the letter into the garbage. If Maverick saw that he'd be furious. She took a piece of paper and wrote back,

To Charlie:  
Yes, I'll be taking the Magical Creatures class. Except for Divination and Arithmancy we(Harry, Ron, and me) are in the same classes. See you there!  
Love,  
Hermione

She sent it with the owl back quickly and finished packing her books and robes.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hermione grabbed her trunk and Crookshanks and ran up to Harry and Ron. "Harry, Ron!" she exclaimed, "So great to see you! How was your summer vacation?"

"Hermione!" Ron and Harry grabbed her in a group hug, but she pulled out with a glare.

Ron looked insulted. "What?"

"You hurt my arm!" she snapped, rubbing her arm absently.

"Sorry." Ron's ears turned red.

"Don't worry about it," she mumbled, hugging them again brightly, "did you have a good summer?"

"It was amazing! Did Charlie tell you? He's coming!" Harry exclaimed, "And I spent most my summer with the Weasleys!"

"Hermione!" Charlie pulled her out from the group and gripping her arms. She pulled her left arm to her side. "Are you excited? Ron says you love school, he says you've got everything almost perfect-the perfect school work, perfectly clean areas, perfect boyfriend-" his eyes narrowed slightly. "is your arm okay? You don't seem happy."

"I'm not perfect, Charlie. I hate the stupid fact that everything must be perfect." She felt tears behind her eyes and pushed them back angrily-she couldn't break down now. Especially not in front of Charlie.

"Hey, 'Mione!" called a voice. She recognized it too easily and wanted to bury her head in Charlie's chest and hide. But that was out of the question.

"Maverick," she squeaked.

"Let's go find a compartment together!" he said, gripping her left arm where he had hit her and holding it tight.

She winced at the pain and tried to smile. "I was going to sit with Professor Weasley and his brothers."

"Yeah, I just invited her. But you may sit with us if you like!" Charlie said warmly.

"Oh, alright," grunted Maverick. He wasn't happy, he clutched Hermione's arm harder as they walked onto the train and looked for a compartment. Her eyes blurred from the pain.

Charlie noticed and his eyes narrowed, "Mav, let go of her, mate. She's not going anywhere."

"She's _my_ girlfriend," snapped Maverick.

"You're cutting off her circulation. Let go, now."

With an angry glare, Maverick let go. Hermione blinked her eyes clear and walked a little closer to Charlie thankfully.

"Let's sit here!" Charlie said brightly, walking into Ron's and Harry's compartment.

When Ron kept glaring at Maverick for having his arm around Hermione, Charlie moved over and sat next to her, and Maverick narrowed his eyes. Nonetheless, Maverick pulled his arm back, making a mental note to talk to Mione about that.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

Hermione walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning and felt slightly excited for the day to come.

"Hermione!" exclaimed Maverick, "I was meaning to tell you. I'm so sorry for my actions a couple days ago-I was horrid. Here, please accept this necklace as an apology."

She looked up into his dark eyes and felt her heart melt.

"Of course, Maverick! I will always forgive you!" she said breathlessly.

He clasped the necklace around her neck. "I love you."

"I love you too."

He leaned forward and kissed her. Her heart fluttered and her stomach thudded. Was this why she forgave him? Because he could kiss her and hold her? _No_, she decided, _I'm not shallow!_ Then, unbidden, the thought of Charlie holding her surfaced. Wait-Charlie? Ron and Harry patted her and hugged her all the time, why was Charlie an occasion? She pushed the thought away and went back to snogging Maverick.

"Granger? Sinds? Shouldn't you be getting to breakfast?"

Hermione broke away too quickly. "Charlie!" she tried to find the words to say. "Charlie, I-I...I...Good morning," she stammered.

Charlie gave her his best goofy smile, the one that made him a definite Weasley. The only thing that could make her forget Maverick-Charlie. "Good morning to you too, Mione. Now, lets get into breakfast."

Maverick glared at Charlie and walked to the Hufflepuff table.

"Do you mind if I eat with the Gryffindors, Mione?" Charlie asked.

"Oh, yes!" Hermione said, "Come eat!"

Charlie sat next to her with a broad smile and began talking about Romania, and she listened eagerly, too interested in Charlie talking to eat her meal. Soon, his factual thoughts on Romania turned to the dragons and stories he had about them.

"This one dragon from France was particularily frightening. It has a peculiar name-French Fobbletooth-but a dangerous bite and hot fire! So we were trying to get this one trained for the Minister of Magic in Romania, and we had been making fun of the name and saying this would be a piece of cake-that is definitely not true though. We started by trying to get my buddy, Ryan to ride it, and this creature puts up a huge fight. It sent so much fire we all had burns for weeks! And then, it bit Ryan right on the arm, narrowly missing his head. He fainted right before it happened, but he sure felt that in the morning! It took us a whole three months to get that one trained."

Hermione listened so intensely that she barely noticed breakfast was nearly over.

"Well, since you are...fifth year, I'll see you right before lunch!" Charlie grinned at her and waved before leaving the Hall, and Hermione grabbed her bag and headed to Transfiguration.

"Mione!" called Maverick, giving her a quick hug and kiss, "I'll see you at lunch, right? Not next to boring old Weasley again, right?"

"Yeah, sure," she replied, rushing into Professor Mcgonagall's classroom.

"Hey, Hermione!" shouted Ron, "Sit over here!"

She sat next to Ron and Harry with a big smile.

Ron stared at her for a long moment.

"What is it?" she snapped, "I'm trying to pay attention to Professor, and you are distracting me!"

"Are you okay? Your sleeve-your arm," he muttered.

Horrified, she realized her long sleeve had been pulled up while she was writing, revealing the black bruise Maverick had given her.

"Hermione, who did this to you!" hissed Harry, "We'll get them for you!"

"No, no," she said hastily, "I...I fell. Over the summer."

"Yeah, right. You aren't much for sports, but you're not clumsy!" snarled Ron, "What happened?"

"Nothing!" she snapped, "Now leave me alone!"

After a short Transfiguration lesson with lots of writing notes, and a llooonnnggg History of Magic class, she went to her class before lunch: Hagrid's and Charlie's class.

"'Ello, 'verybody!" Hagrid greeted with an enormous smile, "Yeh won't believe what I've got for yeh!"

Charlie had a modest smile, but it widened when he saw Hermione. He waved excitedly. Hermione grinned and waved back in excitement, when somebody grabbed her arm and held it by her side.

"M-Mav," she stuttered, looking at him in slight horror.

"Hey, love," he said, "You seem awful excited to wave to Weasel."

"Weasley," she whispered through gritted teeth.

"What was that?" Mav asked loudly.

With wide, frightened eyes, she mumbled, "Nothing. I said nothing."

"Don't lie to me, Mione."

"Charlie Weasley is here to help us with a special unit this year-dragons!" Hagrid said happily, "We have you each a dragon that you will raise and feed and train. Charlie?"

Charlie stepped to the front of the class with a broad smile. "Each dragon is quite harmless, though it is required you wear your clothes that were on your Hogwarts list. There will be a couple harder baby dragons that will be given to some students that exceed Hagrid's expectations. We discussed it earlier. When I call your name, please come up: Lavender Brown. Parvati Patil. Maverick Sinds. Harry Potter. Ron Weasley. Draco Malfoy." He spat the name of Malfoy, but smiled in a slightly dreamy way at the next name, "Hermione Granger. Neville Longbottom. These are the students that will have the harder dragon babies unless they decide against it."

Charlie began handing small dragons to each person up front. A red one to Lavender, a purple one to Parvati, a black one to Maverick. A green one to Harry, a maroon one to Ron(Charlie grinned in remembrance of the maroon sweaters that his Mum always sent his little brother), a brown one to Malfoy.

"Here, Neville, I think you'll like this one. It requires certain…herbs that you will discuss in Herbology to live. Professor Sprout told me you are pretty good at her class. This is a harder dragon, but I'm sure you can do it." Charlie grinned, and Neville gave him a modest smile.

"Thank you, Professor," he mumbled, taking the yellow, sickly looking dragon into his arms, beaming happily.

"And, Hermione," Charlie smiled warmly at her, "I'm sure you'll like this one. He's a harder one too-remember Harry's encounter last year with the Hungarian Horntail? At the Triwizard Tournament? This is a baby of the very same dragon."

Hermione smiled at him and took the little dragon into her arms.

Charlie winked at her as she began to walk away. "I'll be by later to see if you need help!"

She smiled shyly, "Thanks, Charlie!"

Hermione walked over to Harry, since Ron was with Lavender. "Charlie says this dragon is a Hungarian Horntail-from the very dragon that you fought last year!"

"Keep that thing away from me," Harry said, fighting to keep a straight face.

They kept busy, feeding and playing with these little harmless dragons. Nothing they did hurt, so everything went well for Hagrid and Charlie.

Charlie walked over and knelt next to Hermione, resting a hand around her shoulder. "You look tired."

"I couldn't sleep all night," she replied with a shrug.

A couple minutes later, he said, "I'm glad this is going so well."

"It's amazing, Charlie!"

"Someday, when you graduate or during the summer, you should come to Romania and see everything that goes on there!" Charlie said excitedly.

"Really?" Hermione sounded joyous.

Charlie grinned. "Of course! I'd love you to come see us! Er, and the dragons."

"Of course I'll visit you! I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

Charlie smiled, "That's amazing, Mione. I didn't know you to be so interested in Magical Creatures."

They smiled shyly at each other, Hermione's warm forest green eyes staring into Charlie's lake-blue eyes. For a long minute, they were both in another world. His eyes seemed to say something, like, "Stay. Stay with me." And her eyes replied, "I wouldn't leave for the world, Charlie." Harry seemed to notice but acted busy with his little dragon that he officially named "James" after his father.

"Yo, Charlie!" called Hagrid, "Parvati is having troubles!"

Charlie stared into her eyes a moment longer, then murmured, "I'll be back." He backed away slowly and finally broke the gaze and walked over to the other girl.

"So, do you have something for Charlie?" asked Harry quietly.

"He's very sweet and kind." She blushed. And he had those amazing eyes, that contagious goofy grin, that stunning personality.

Harry seemed to read her thoughts. "I think he has something for you. He was looking at you in _that way_."

"Was he?"

"Yup. It was sort of…noticeable."

"Oh no." Hermione had just seen Maverick walking by, a glare on his face.

"What?"

"Mav…he noticed. He's going to be mad." Mad. That's an understatement. Maverick was completely seething.

"Mad? Why? It's just Charlie looking at you. No big deal."

Hermione smiled grimly. "Yeah right."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

"What is it, Mav? We've been walking forever, and lunch is soon, and I'm hungry!" Hermione complained as she followed her boyfriend farther.

"This should be far enough." Maverick turned around, the dangerous glare back in his eyes.

Her eyes widened in terror. "Mav, what did I do wrong?"

"You were looking at Charlie-he was looking at you. How many times have I told you, stay away from Weasel?"

Hermione stepped away fearfully. "Mav, look…"

"No, I won't rationalize your bad. Come here."

She trembled.

"Mione, love, it's for the best," he spoke in that sickeningly loving way, staring at her with those stunning dark eyes.

He raised his arm and smacked her cheek. She screamed and stepped back. Maverick hissed with anger and struck her again across the chest. Hermione yelped and fell against the nearest tree.

"Now, I hope you learned something, love." He came forward with gentility and stroked her shoulders and cheek where she had tears. "Time to go back and eat lunch."

She tried to walk ahead of him and to stay silent, but she was having difficulty breathing, so she ended up walking behind him. When they at last reached Hogwarts, Maverick patted her arm consolingly and walked to his Hufflepuff friends.

"Mione, I thought you'd eat with me again," said a voice.

She was so used to hearing that voice that she could put the name to it.

"Hey, Charlie," she replied, looking down, "I'm not hungry. I went to the library."

He sounded confused, "No, you just passed Hagrid's house with your boyfriend-Maverick."

"Ch-Charlie, y-you must b-be mistaken. I-I went to the library with Maverick," she stuttered.

"Mione, are you alright? Why aren't you looking at me? What happened to your face? Your cheek is bruising up." He tilted her face up to see her better.

"Charlie, stop." She couldn't keep the whimper or the threat of tears out of her voice.

"Hermione, you tell me what's wrong, right now!" he pleaded, "You're hurt. Is he hurting you?"

"How dare you make that accusation, Charlie!" she exclaimed, a little too quickly, "Of course he isn't hurting me! I-I-I-I'm fine!"

She walked out of the Great Hall, the first to leave lunch. Charlie followed her quickly to the Gryffindor commons. Soon, her chest was throbbing again and her breathing labored. Quietly, she slumped into a soft couch. Charlie sat next to her. She breathed hard and loudly until she finally caught her breath, but the pain from Maverick's hard strike still ached.

"May I ask," Charlie said, "Why you are breathing so hard after such a simple walk?"

"My chest hurts," she mumbled breathlessly.

To her surprise, shock, anger, and relief all mixed into one, he rested his warm hands around her ribs and her sides and scooted closer to her. The pain subsided as the heat from his hands circled her ribs. She watched his face silently as he caressed her chest. It sent a strange heat around her ribs, but she-to her utmost horror and delight-liked it. He kept his eyes on his hands, with a small smile on his lips.

"I think you broke a rib here…Oh, and here too. What did you do?"

"I-I-I-" she had to think quickly. For some reason, she could not. How could she not answer him? He looked up in slight worry, but she just became more distracted. His eyes were quite dazzling-Wait. His eyes?

____

__

No, I didn't! Hermione thought desperately, _I didn't just think that! I didn't just think his eyes were…dazzling?_

"Hermione," he murmured gently, "Are you okay?"

When she continued to stare at him with a slightly gushy expression, he smiled and took out his wand, mending her bones and pain with a quiet incantation.

"Is that better?" he asked, resting an arm around her and pulling her closer.

"It's amazing," she whispered, closing her eyes and leaning against him.

Charlie played with her hair quietly, with a smile in his eyes as he continued to caress her forehead and hair. With a small moan of delight, she relaxed. Maybe she relaxed a little too much, for five minutes later, Charlie heard a soft mumble from her. She had fallen asleep.

"She talks in her sleep," Charlie mused aloud.

"Charlie…Mav…he….hurt….me….angry….at….you….looking….at…me…" she moaned, "Charlie…no…stay away from him…He's gonna hurt you…like he did me. Charlie….NO!" she cried out, and Charlie tried to calm her, but she was still asleep. She fell back to a contented whisper every once in a while. She murmured, "I…love…you….Charlie…"

Charlie smiled and leaned back against the soft couch.

"Charlie-boy!" exclaimed a familiar voice.

"Quiet, Fred," yawned Charlie.

George gaped at him. "Charlie-boy," he whispered, "What are you doing with a sleeping Hermione? What is going on here?"

Fred stared.

"She's not feeling well," Charlie said softly, "I'm very worried about her. She was murmuring in her sleep earlier. Mostly about her boyfriend…Something about him hurting her. I'm worried, guys."

"Charlie-boy," Fred said in a tone almost like his mother's, "I think you have a soft spot for little Hermione here."

Charlie made a soft, loving murmur. "Fred, I have more than a soft spot for her. It more like-"

"-a passion?" suggested George.

"Yeah," he grumbled, "But that doesn't matter. What does, George, Fred, is the fact that her boyfriend could possibly be-"

"Abusing her," George and Fred finished together, looked at each other, and laughed for thinking alike.

"Not funny," growled Charlie through gritted teeth, "Try to look out for her."

"Are you going to let her sleep the afternoon away?" Fred asked.

George finished, "Cause she does have classes."

"Charlie," mumbled Hermione softly, shifting and resting a hand on his chest.

Ignoring the twins' snickering at Hermione's movement and mumbling, Charlie snapped, "Then why aren't you at classes?"

"Skipping potions today," replied George, "We've got some special…business to experiment and sell."

Charlie smiled. "I promise not to tell Mum. Don't tell anybody about Mione, though."

"Right," Fred smiled and left, dragging George with him.

Charlie soon fell asleep to the sound of the crackling fire.

"Sir must wake up!" squeaked a little voice, "Sir must wake up! If sir is found by other professor and student then sir and Hermione will be in trouble!"

Charlie groaned and stirred.

"Sir, sir, sir must wake up!" said the voice squeakily.

"Go away, Ginny," grumbled Charlie. He opened his eyes, "Quit bothering me!"

Suddenly, he realized he wasn't in the Gryffindor common room anymore. He was slumped in a big soft velvet armchair, with a small girl leaning against him.

"What did you do to me? Why'd you take us from the common rooms!" he outburst.

A small house-elf stood in front of him, its big warm eyes staring into his. "Sir woke at last. Sir fell asleep, with Hermione. In the common room. It would cause bad rumor. So Dobby brought sir and Hermione into kitchen."

"What time is it?" groaned Charlie groggily.

"It is almost time for dinner…7 o'clock sir."

"Did I really sleep that long? I know I stayed up late, but that's normal!" Charlie fumed at himself. Then it occurred to him-he was comfortable under beside Hermione. This thought horrified him, but he didn't deny it. "Mione, wake up." He leaned forward and kissed her eyebrows.

Hermione didn't stir. She hadn't been able to sleep much all night.

"Mione, dear, it is time to wake." He stroked her cheek with a finger. "Come on, Mione. It is almost time for dinner. You missed all your afternoon classes-Potions, Herbology, and Arithmancy. Come on, Hermione, dear. I'm sure you're hungry."

After a bit of gentle coxing, Hermione stirred and woke. "Charlie?" she mumbled sleepily, "Is that you?"

"Yes, you fell asleep. I didn't have the heart to wake you. You mentioned you weren't able to sleep all night."

"Time? What time is it?" she mumbled.

"Almost time for dinner."

"I missed all my afternoon classes?"

"Yep. I did too."

"Charlie, did I-?"

"Did you?"

"Talk in my sleep?" she turned pink.

"Why?"

Her flushed face turned a deeper pink color. "I…I was having a dream."

Charlie asked gently, "Was it about me, Mione? You did say my name a couple times. And you mentioned Maverick…are you alright?"

"I'm good, Charlie. Can I stay here a couple more minutes, with you?"

Charlie smiled, "Of course, Hermione."

She leaned against him with a soft "ohh", and was quiet.

Charlie gave her a sad smile. After a couple relaxing minutes, Hermione stood and walked with Charlie out the doors.

"Oh, and Dobby," Charlie hissed to the house-elf, "Tell no one that I slept with Hermione! It was…on accident!"

Dobby nodded. "Dobby promises not to tell a soul."

Hermione followed Charlie to the Great Hall and sat down next to Harry. Ron was on the other side of the table, next to Lavender(his girlfriend), and Charlie seated himself next to Hermione.

"Why weren't you at Herbology and Potions, Hermione?" asked Harry.

Hermione glanced quickly at Charlie and back at Harry. She mumbled, "I was tired. I fell asleep in an armchair in the kitchen. Charlie found me and woke me up."

Charlie nodded. "Pretty sound asleep. Said she didn't get sleep all night earlier…now I believe her."

"Mione!" Maverick smiled warmly at her, "I didn't see you all afternoon!"

"I fell asleep. I was tired," she replied, "Great to see you though!"

He smiled, "Always." And then, he leaned forward and they engaged in a passionate kiss. When he pulled away with a satisfied expression, he said, "See you after dinner, Hermione."

"See ya, Mav."

Charlie was gripping the table-hard. His eyes were wild and his ears were red, and Fred and George snickered at him. Finally, Charlie relaxed when he earned a worried gaze from Hermione and sat down to dinner.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four:

Hermione left, escorted by her boyfriend out of the Great Hall. Charlie gazed after her, and continued to gaze at where she disappeared long after she had gone.

"Charlie-boy!" laughed Fred, "I believe you were staring at Hermione!"

Charlie turned red. "Well...I'm worried. She's gone-alone-with her boyfriend. Every time that happens, it is either she comes to me, hurt, or she's been snogging him!"

"You're jealous that you're not the one snogging her," George snickered.

Ron and Harry laughed.

Ron said teasingly, "If you don't want her to be snogging him, go give him detention and spend the rest of the evening with Hermione! Not like Harry or I want you with Hermione, we just don't want Sinds with her."

"Neither do I," grunted Charlie.

Charlie jumped to his feet. "That's a great idea, Ron!" he exclaimed loudly, rushing out of the Great Hall.

Hermione pressed her back against the wall, beaming at Maverick.

"My love," Maverick murmured, leaning forward and engaging her in a long snog. His lips pressed against hers in a harsh, urgent way and forced her mouth open. His tongue touched her lips, her teeth, and then her own tongue.

Hermione was in a rush of thrill, and she was eager to keep the kiss going long as possible. She was so distracted that she hadn't realized Charlie was standing in the doorway, a look of complete misery and horror on his face.

"Eh-hem."

Maverick didn't break the kiss, so Hermione didn't either. Neither appeared to care, pressed up against each other.

Charlie knew his face was flamed, and he was sure if he didn't stop them soon, his eyes would burn too. So he spoke loudly, "Eh-hem."

Finally, they ended the passionate kiss, but stayed in each other's arms.

"What do you want?" Maverick asked.

Hermione gasped, "Oh! Charlie..."

"Sinds, you have detention with Professor Sprout. Granger, come with me." Charlie figured it would work and rushed a message to Professor Sprout through his silver wolf patronus.

Hermione looked horrified as she followed Charlie. When they finally reached Charlie's office, she asked quietly, "Charlie, did I do something wrong? What did I do?"

Charlie sat down and conjured up a soft chair for her to sit on. She stayed standing, so he turned to talk to her.

But she spoke first. "I'm so sorry, Charlie! I didn't want to, I...I...I just had to. I wouldn't of kissed him if I knew you were coming. Please, Charlie, please forgive me!"

Charlie looked shocked. "Um, I just was going to tell you how...er, overly done the kiss looked. You should be careful, Hermione. You're young. You don't want to end up in bed with him."

Hermione gasped angrily. "How dare you make that assumption! You've held me like he did!"

"Yes, I have," Charlie looked at her square in the eye, "I'm not snogging you like that though. Nor am I trying to get my hands down your pants."

She gasped again and walked over to the door.

"Alohomora," hissed Charlie.

"Charlie, let me out!" Hermione said in a shrilly voice.

"Hermione, calm down. I just want you to listen. I'm worried about you-what you said in your sleep about Maverick hurting you!"

"Charlie, leave me alone!" she howled, "Let me out!"

Charlie muttered the curse, and Hermione thrust the door open and disappeared.

"Didn't work very well," Fred noted as he and George walked in, "We were listening."

George gave him a little pat on the head as if he were a child, "No worries, brother. We'll try to help."

"How?" Charlie groaned.

"Well, we know that she loves you. She said that in her sleep too. She is honestly scared of Maverick, and it is for sure he is hurting her. The bruise on her arm, her cheek." George reasoned, "So since you love her, you need to protect her. Keep an eye on her. Soon enough, you'll be right. And she'll come back to you with open arms."

Charlie glared at him. "Maybe I thought she would just come to me no matter what. I was wrong, though. There is something about Maverick-he can control her. It's terrible."

"Than do what we said," Fred said brightly, "See you tomorrow!"

Charlie walked quietly to the Great Hall for breakfast, his eyes blurred slightly with exhaustion. He hadn't managed to sleep all night. And the bit of sleep he did get was full of Hermione. Instead of taking the shortest way, Charlie took a longer walk to clear his mind and think everything out, so he took a longer route.

"N-no, Mav." Hermione's voice. "D-don't."

"It's okay, love. That's just what you do when you love someone. You never really understand that because you've never loved somebody before. But now you do, so I'll help with everything. It's just something you do."

"Are you sure it's right?" her voice quivered.

"I know it scares you, love. It's okay."

Hermione gave a small whimper. Maverick kept murmuring at her.

"What is going on here?" snapped a voice, and Charlie peaked to see Blaise Zabini.

"What does it look like, Zabini? I'm with my girlfriend," snapped Maverick back.

"Who looks scared out of her skin," Blaise growled sarcastically, "And why, may I ask, are you two so passionate with each other? If your not careful, you'll have to borrow birth control from Madam Pomphrey. Or maybe, it'll be too late."

Charlie, for some reason, felt extremely thankful for Blaise getting that out.

Hermione was standing very close to Maverick, and one of his hands was on her chest, stroking along, and the other was on her bum, also feeling its way around.

Charlie felt a rush of anger at Maverick. "Isn't it time for breakfast?" he cut in, "Good morning."

Hermione met his gaze sadly, and followed Maverick to breakfast. Blaise followed more distanced, with Charlie.

"Worried?" Blaise asked, "I am too. And I'm Slytherin. Not that I've ever felt anything towards Granger, just when a boy treats a girl that way, it means no good."

Charlie nodded sadly. Hermione had seated herself between Harry and Ron, and refused to look at Charlie. So he walked up to the teachers' table and slumped in his chair.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five:

Hermione left the Great Hall after breakfast, closely followed by Maverick.

"Weasley, are you going to pay attention to me or not?" snapped Professor Snape.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry Severus. What were you saying?"

Snape scowled, "Professor Snape to you. Remember, I used to be your professor."

"And now you are a co-worker. So I can call you what I want." Charlie looked back anxiously at where Hermione had disappeared.

"Okay, Weasley. I've got the potion for those little dragons when you are ready. And, Longbottom needs to come by and finish the potion for his dragon-the potion he made with Professor Sprout. It's matured. When you come pick them up, they'll be in large flasks with a lid on my desk. And don't forget to come to the Quidditch game today. Hufflepuff and Gryffindor."

Charlie nodded absently and walked over to Neville. "Neville, your potion for the dragon has matured in Professor Snape's classroom."

He then walked with Fred and George out to watch the game. "Fred, George, good luck," he said distractedly.

"I'll bet your excited to see how good Harry is!" exclaimed George.

Fred added, "I'm sure you'll remember when you were in school, Charlie-boy!"

Charlie nodded and walked up to sit next to Ginny. On the other side of Ginny was Hermione. Both girls fell silent when he sat down.

"What's with you two?" he snapped.

Ginny's eyes widened. "What's with you? We were talking about you and frankly, you don't need to here it!"

Charlie's ears turned red. "Why were you talking about me?"

"Because you have been a prat lately." Ginny folded her arms crossly.

"What? What did I do?"

"Snooping in Hermione's and Maverick's business. Charlie, girls don't want to be bothered about their boyfriends and what they are doing!" Ginny sighed impatiently.

Charlie stood up, ignoring the game and the complaints of several Gryffindors behind him not being able to see. "Remember, I can give detentions now," he hissed, "and dock points. Something is wrong here, Ginny, and I'm just trying to help!"

He walked away, and Hermione ran after him. "Charlie, wait!" He turned around and looked down at her through narrowed eyes.

In desparation, she said quickly and tearfully, "I'm sorry I can't tell you what's going on, Charlie, really. I want to be friends with you, but I can't do that either! Can we just go back to being Professor and Student?"

Charlie's heart plummetted. He could almost feel the tears in his eyes, but he forced himself to be logical. However, his next movement was not logical in the slightest means. He moved forward, almost like he was flying and kissed her. It was a gentle kiss, not in the slightest like Maverick's harsh and forceful kisses. Hermione would've shouted in surprise, but she next found herself kissing him back. In the background, Maverick glared furiously. He'd get Hermione for this.

Hermione wanted to rush back and kiss him again, but she knew it wasn't allowed by Maverick. "I-I."

"Now we can go back to being Professor and Student." He was so disappointed he knew the tears were coming, so he walked away to his dragons.

Hermione stared after him with teary eyes and sat next to Ginny.

"Woah," Ginny whispered to her, "What just happened? Did he do what I thought I saw?"

Saddened and disgruntled, Hermione gazed back at the game just as Harry caught the Snitch in his left hand.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six:

Charlie sulked in the Gryffindor Commons, watching them through a huge party. Hermione was upstairs with Ginny, and Harry, Fred, and George were the center of attention.

"So, Charlie," Fred elbowed his brother brightly, "Cool game, eh? You haven't said a word on Harry's performance-we thought you'd be all over his flaws and successes."

Charlie scowled. "Oi! Don't elbow me!"

"Oh, somebody's grumpy!" sang George, "Come on, Charlie. Come eat something. This is so unlike you! Whenever you won a game, you would party all night with us!"

Charlie glared and stood up. "It is Professor Weasley to you."

"Woah-ho-ho! What's wrong with you?" exclaimed Fred.

Harry sat down on the couch near Charlie. "Is this about Hermione?"

Charlie's eyes widened. "No, of course not! It's none of your business!"

The whole Gryffindor Commons was listening now, watching Charlie intently. They all knew how Hermione and Charlie liked each other-it had been all over the school.

"Charlie, you don't need to lie," Harry said quietly.

Charlie, his face flushed and his eyes bright with fury, glared at Harry. "I am not lying. It is Professor Weasley." He stood and walked stiffly out of the room, but Fred and George ran after him persistently.

"Charl-er, Professor Weasley," Fred persisted, "Hey, listen. We're not in front of the big group anymore. Please, we're just trying to help."

Charlie refused to look at his brothers and walked on stiffly. Quietly, he spoke, "It was right before Harry caught the Snitch. Hermione followed me to the exit. She just wanted to be Professor and Student. Not...not...Charlie and Hermione. So...I kissed her. I left after that. We're just...Professor and Student. That's all there is to it."

George patted Charlie's arm. "Well...I'm real sorry about that."

"There's nothing you two can do to help. Go back to your dorm and go to bed. Tomorrow is a Hogsmeade weekend." Charlie pushed George away and walked into Hagrid's hut and upstairs to where he slept.

"'Ello, Charlie," Hagrid grunted, "Congratulatin' 'Arry?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Yeh okay? Yeh seem tired."

"Fine, Hagrid. Thank you for asking. I uh, think I'll go to bed. See you in the morning, Hagrid."

Charlie quietly walked upstairs to his room and pulled his owl, Ingrid, out of the cage.

"Hey, Ingrid. I have a letter for you to give to Bill. It's just telling him his little brother needs help. Here you go. Have a nice flight, girl."

The large eagle owl swooped off gracefully into the night and slowly disappeared in the coming dark. Soon, only a full moon lit up the sky. Charlie watched the stars sadly, his mind going over again and again what had happened with Hermione until he flopped onto his mattress and closed his eyes. But he still didn't sleep. He couldn't sleep, knowing that Hermione was in Maverick's hands and not his. His mind continued to replay images with Hermione, mostly the worst memories, but some were the thoughts on his feelings when she was in his arms.

Charlie groaned, moving over on his bed. Finally, he stood and walked out of the house and up to the castle. For a long hour, he roamed and walked, once finding the Ravenclaw prefects and later catching Ron walking around.

"You're not an evening person, Charlie. Why are you up?" Ron asked.

"You're not much of an evening person yourself, Ron."

"Is this about Hermione?"

"No. I couldn't sleep. Go to bed, Ron. Tomorrow is Hogsmeade. I'll see you in the morning. I promise to take you to Zonko's or something tomorrow. Go to bed."

Ron glared and walked to his dorm. Charlie quietly walked to his room and plopped on the bed. This time, he found that he could sleep. He fell into a blank, dreamless sleep. When he couldn't dream about Hermione, his dreams just weren't there anymore.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven:

"Good morning, Weasley," growled Professor Snape, "You wouldn't believe what I found this morning."

Charlie glanced over quietly, pausing on his way to breakfast. "What is it, Snape?"

"Professor Snape to you."

"Professor Weasley to you, then."

Both teachers glared at each other for a long moment.

"Your sibling is a trouble-maker."

He pulled Ginny and a boy from Ravenclaw over to Charlie. "I found them early this morning."

"What were you doing, Ginny?" growled Charlie. "Making out with your boyfriend?"

Ginny glared at him with her fiery gaze. "You wouldn't understand because you don't know how to properly love a person. Which explains why you aren't married."

Professor Snape's face was frozen in an expression of rage. Charlie knew he was thinking of the only girl he had ever loved-Lily Evans Potter. Charlie was trembling with fury.

"Detention every night for a week, Ginny," snarled Charlie, "And I'll leave it up to Professor Snape on what else to do."

Ginny gasped angrily, "You can't do that! I have Quidditch practice!"

"Oh? Well I guess that's too bad since my younger siblings can't even get grades that are good anyway! At least I got "O"s in everything as well as being a great Seeker!" Charlie glared.

"At least I'm not a stuck up snob!"

"Detention for a month!"

"You can't do that!"

Professor Snape smiled grimly. "Says who? And it is I who decides the details. For your attitude, I've decided lines for the first week, cleaning EVERY SINGLE artifact in the trophy cases in the teachers room for the second week, and relieving the house-elves of their work by cleaning the dishes after dinner for the third week."

Charlie and Professor Snape looked at each other evenly and nodded. "Okay. I'm going to lunch, Severus. Thank you."

He nodded. "See you there in a few minutes, Charlie. As for you, Michael, I think I'll have a month of detention for you. Come into my office tonight and-"

Charlie left, followed closely by Ginny who was absolutely seething.

"Charlie, why'd you do that?" she hissed.

"Better than Mum finding out, Ginny. Stop being so terrible to your teachers or it is detention for three months."

She snapped angrily, "You're just upset because of what Hermione said to you! Quit taking it out on the students!"

"Shush, Gin." He parted for the teachers table and sat down next to Hagrid quietly. Professor Snape walked up and sat next to him quietly.

"I thought you wouldn't give your siblings detention. I went to Dumbledore on that. He told me he trusted you." Snape began picking at his meal. Finally, he admitted, "I guess I trust you now."

"I trust you now, too. I guess if you weren't there, I'd be much less controlled."

"Same here. I was upset when she yelled at you for not being married or in a relationship. I started thinking of her again..." he had a faraway, distant gaze.

"I know how you feel."

Severus nodded, his gaze breaking. "Well. I have to move on."

"It seems so hard. It seems like it is impossible to believe everything is alright in the end."

"I find myself thinking, 'what if it isn't?', most the time," Severus admitted, "But I'm thinking, as long as I can get back at him for killing her, avenge her death, even if it's not okay, I'll be happy."

"I'll help you every step of the way if you need it," Charlie said, "Though with your enthusiasm, you might not. Plus, we've got Dumbledore, and Mcgonagall, and all the other of Order. How can you-we-fail?"

Severus grinned. "Seems pretty impossible."

Then, they began talking brightly, like young children, jokingly, on how they would get He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. They ate and talked, and both left with brighter eyes to teach their classes.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight:

"Charlie, you promised you'd take me to Zonko's last night," said Ron seriously.

"Must you sound like a child?" Charlie snapped pensively.

Ron glared. "Charlie, you promised!"

"Fine, I'm coming. Is Harry coming with us too?"

Charlie as usual lately, was quite grumpy and walked silently with Ron, Harry, Fred, and George. Fred and George kept popping up with jokes, great grins on their faces, but Charlie didn't even smile.

"Charlie, I wish you wouldn't brood over Hermione like this," Ron snapped finally, exasperated.

Charlie looked at him in surprise.

"If she doesn't want you, you shouldn't follow her like a puppy dog!" Ron added defensively to his first statement. "Besides, maybe she had to learn the hard way about Sinds. Obviously, she's not taking our advice. We've tried."

Harry nodded quickly in agreement. "Many times. She's not listening, Charlie."

"But if Sinds is hurting her, maybe we should at least keep an eye on her, to make sure nothing happens," insisted Fred.

"Don't be ridiculous," argued Ron. "That'll just get us yelled at by her, and I hate it when she yells. She's scary."

George and Fred laughed at him. Fred asked, "Doesn't she always yell at you?"

George added, "And isn't she always right?"

"In this case, she isn't," Harry replied. "And neither is Ginny."

"You're just jealous because Ginny's boyfriend isn't you," Fred said, looking at him seriously.

Harry flushed. "That is not true."

Charlie bit the side of his mouth to stop a grin. "Harry? You've never told us you were interested in Ginny. Oh, I've heard all about her infatuation for you, but not yours for her."

Harry threw his arms up. "Oh, really! Honestly! Ginny and I - we've never, I mean..."

"I can see what Hermione means when she talks of your wonderful articulation," Fred said, grinning.

Charlie gazed thoughtfully at the town of Hogsmeade as they walked in, and suddenly, a tall Slytherin was running up to them, his eyes wide with worry.

"Professor Weasley!" he shouted, running to him.

Fred and George immediately brandished their wands. Pointing their wands to his neck, he stopped, holding his empty hands in the air. "What do you want, Zabini?" growled Fred.

"Lower your wands," admonished Charlie. "What is it, Blaise?"

Blaise glared at Fred and George, and then looked to Charlie. "Professor Weasley - Hermione - she..."

"What?" Charlie was worried.

"You must come back to the castle," Blaise said, stuttering with his effort to get all the words out. "She 'fell' down a hill and into the frozen lake, and you know how the ice is too thin and she broke right through. If it weren't for Ginny and I - "

"What were Ginny and you doing together?"

"Arguing. Again."

"Why?"

Blaise blushed. "My girlfriend is her best friend, Luna, from Ravenclaw. We were just arguing. We saw Hermione in the lake and she must've been freezing. We pulled her out and got her inside. Hermione is in the Hospital Wing, and she's asking for you, Charlie."

Charlie turned and started running with Blaise in the direction of Hogwarts. Harry and Ron immediately started following.

"Do you think this is where it all turns around?" Fred asked, grinning at his twin.

"Yeah. Do you think it was Maverick's fault?"

"Definitely. Let's go!"

They sprinted after the group, dodging other students, shivering the cold wintery air. Charlie sprinted through the castle and up into the Hospital Wing, gasping and panting, and stumbled to Hermione's bedside.

"Charlie," she murmured, sounding tired and weak.

"Hermione, what happened?" he demanded, worried.

"What always happens," she said bitterly, although her face was still soft and gentle. She reached up to hold his hand. "I 'fell'."

Charlie sighed softly, holding her cold hands. "It's going to be okay, Hermione."

"I know. I'm sorry for pushing you away," she whispered. "Especially because you were right - and so is Harry and Ron. I should've listened."

"Are you alright?" Harry asked.

Hermione smiled at him weakly. "Well, Harry, I don't know. I haven't decided yet. But I think so. And Harry? Thank you. And Ron. And Charlie, and Fred and George."

Charlie leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Get better, Hermione. You had us so worried."

"Thank Blaise for me, will you?" she whispered.

"I will."

"And kiss my forehead more often."

He chuckled, and kissed her forehead once more as she fell asleep.

"She'll be fine," Madam Pomphrey said, watching them quietly. "You should know, though, that people say strange things in their semi conscious. She might not remember talking to you guys when she wakes."


End file.
